Hydrogeological monitoring of karst activity based on regime observations in the territory of karst lakes

Abstract

This article shows that the most sensitive indicator of local and regional karst activity in territories of apparent karst processes is the behaviour of karst lakes. The authors propose a hydrogeological monitoring methodology for the karst process based on the phase-measuring geoelectric control method in the coastal zone of karst lakes. The geoelectric current control of hydrogeological changes in the medium at local levels uses a multi-frequency vertical electric sounding combined with a phase-measuring method of registering the geoelectric signal. These proven methods permit to distinguish variations of spatial parameters and the electric conductivity of several layers at a time. Moreover, they significantly increase the noise resistance and sensitivity of the measuring system. An adaptive algorithm function of the measuring complex for geoelectric monitoring of karst lakes’ coastal zones was developed to control the operation of facilities and data collection systems. Based on an example of a lake where karst processes are active, the key zones of hydrogeological control were identified depending on karst manifestations. The research confirmed the possibility of local and regional monitoring of the development and forecasting of destructive karst-suffosion processes based on hydrogeological regime observations of karst lakes.